Heading into a weekend at the beginning of February, 2024, snow was forecast for Friday night into Saturday morning. I had such a rough week at work that I was looking forward to sleeping late Saturday and Sunday. Cemeteries in the snow is an adventure I normally look forward to; however, I was pooped.
- Many, many sculptures, statues, and other structures low to the ground. Interesting to photograph normally, even more interesting covered in snow.
- The terrain is FLAT! However, even with a front- or four-wheel drive vehicle, icy hills are not your friend!
- The cemetery is very large, with many trees. Plenty of areas for wildlife, e.g. deer and fox. (Other than geese, most of the wildlife was hidden during my visit).
Once I got to Holy Cross, it was still snowing lightly, with a six-inch layer of the fluffy stuff on everything. I drove to a few of my usual favorite spots, alternating between my iPhone, Holga (120 mm film), and DSLR to capture certain images. While it is true what they say – the right kind of camera is the one you have with you, I do prefer the flexibility. For instance, there's no way I could simulate a tintype image like the one at right without the Hipstamatic tintype ap on my iPhone.
It dawned on me during my peregrinations that I was visiting some old friends, statues
I had photographed many times throughout the past twenty years. After
photographing a few new scenes and some old ones, I turned around and saw this
pillared angel, one that I had photographed countless times. In fact, it was
the first cemetery angel that caught my eye, ever, back in the film photography
days of the late 1990s. It looks uncannily the same, down to the missing arm and weird horizontal lash marks.
Which is more than I can say for
the other statues I subsequently photographed. Weathering has caused loss of
detail, lichens have darkened faces. Cemetery statues age just as humans do, but show their age more slowly. Even this Victorian-era marble statue of a young girl has
deteriorated under her protective metal and glass. Or maybe, because of the
metal and glass.
The veiled face of this soul
emerging from its coffin has lost what little detail its winding sheet suggested.
The diaphanous, sensual angel below has become darkened with interminable age and
grime. The pure snow, which can give a squalid scene a fresh, clean, heavenly
appearance, simply accentuates her age, these many years later. Or maybe to me, it just gives her a Dorian Gray-like appearance.
But these are old friends. I
shouldn’t be critical. The hooded bronze figure above and the green patina Virgin
Mary are ageless, and the snow allows them to be photographed with less
distraction in the background. I didn’t want to turn my head on the bronze BVM below while
she was holding that snowball. After shooting three statues in various areas, I
intentionally drove to a few more of my past haunts. None ever disappoints.
Statues erode and change with time, yet are always interesting. A blanket of
fresh snow brings out new personalities in the sculpture and statuary.
As I was writing this, I realized I had neglected one of my oldest friends. Such is the plethora of artwork here at Holy Cross, that it is easy to miss a few. choice beings The image below of the mourning woman is from a few winters ago. She's always interesting, as is the entire monument. But you'll just have to visit to see it. I added a bit red to the snow, just because.
My cold winter trek only lasted an hour or
so, and oddly took on the purpose of visiting these statues almost for the sake
of just VISITING them, rather than looking for artistic, photographic opportunities.
It was snowing lightly as I left my old haunt, my old friends, in Holy Cross. I
remember thinking the snow would soon be gone, as would I. Not forever,
though, hopefully. This is the last blog I’ll post before going
under anesthesia and the knife, to have my hip replaced. I’m assuming I’ll wake
up and write again, but if not, I promise to come back and haunt you all. Peace out.